Fair Oaks' Eric Brolin is tagged out at home plate by El Dorado catcher Randy Rush during the seventh inning of Post 383's game at Bella Vista High School on Saturday. Brolin got on via walk to load the bases before advancing to third on a sacrifice and a hit. Brolin tried going home on a fly to center field, but was tagged out to end the inning. Photo by John Blenkle
Post 383 wins fourth straight game
By Joe Blenkle/Sports Editor
(This article originally appeared in the June 23, 1993 edition of The Orangevale News)
    Much needed wins came to the Post 383 American Legion baseball team last week as Fair Oaks beat Southside June 16 and then swept three games from El Dorado over the weekend.
    The 5-0 win over Southside broke a two game skid for Fair Oaks that saw its record dip under the .500 mark for the first time this year. Post 383 scored all five runs in the third inning as pitchers Mike McDowell, Chris Read, Sam Moses and Mike Lincoln teamed to scatter five hits in the shutout win.
    Shortstop Dave Scott was a perfect 3-for-3 on the day, slamming two doubles, while Brandon Straw added two hits and Gregg Kenney had a double and two RBI.
FAIR OAKS 1993 SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Score
Haggin Grant Tournament
5-29 Charles Eggen W, 8-5
5-29 Walnut Creek W, 7-1
5-30 Citrus Heights L, 6-1
5-31 Lafayette RAIN OUT
District 6 League Games
6-6 Haggin Grant W, 10-1
6-6 Haggin Grant L, 4-3
6-12 Roseville W, 10-0
6-13 Roseville L, 11-6
6-13 Roseville L, 4-0
6-14 Post 61 L, 9-8
6-16 Southside W, 5-0
6-19 El Dorado W, 8-0
6-19 El Doeado W, 13-2
6-20 El Dorado W, 5-4
OVERALL: 8-5    LEAGUE: 6-4
    The win seemed to revive the Post 383 team as it went on for the three-game sweep over the weekend. The trio of wins propelled Fair Oaks out of the American Division's cellar and put the team over the .500 mark for the first time since June 12.
    Saturday, Fair Oaks hosted El Dorado in a doubleheader played at Bella Vista High School. Despite the early 10:30 a.m. start, things soon heated up, both weather-wise and on the field as Post 383 defeated El Dorado 8-0 in the first game and 13-2 in the second.
    Fair Oaks wasted no time getting on the Scoreboard in the first inning, as second baseman Joe Grawey led off with a hit to right field and Scott, Fair Oaks' shortstop, followed with a home run over the right field fence.
    McDowell, Post 383's starting pitcher, struck out two in the first inning and added another pair in the second, as he dominated the visiting El Dorado team in the early innings. McDowell added another pair of strike outs in the third and by the end of the El Dorado fifth had run his total to eight.
    Fair Oaks added another four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning after El Dorado pitcher Trevor Perry got the first two batters of the inning to ground the ball back to the mound. Grawey, Scott, center fielder Ryan Brennan and first baseman Brandon Straw then strung together four consecutive base hits to score two runs and then Kenney walked to load the bases. Third baseman Jeff Cooke followed with a hit to center, scoring both Brennan and Straw for a 6-0 lead before Perry picked Cooke off first to end the inning. Fair Oaks scored twice more off new El Dorado pitcher Brandon Bendure as Grawey led off the seventh inning with a double down the right field line. Scott was hit by a pitch and then pinch hitter Eric Brolin walked to load the bases. Straw's sacrifice to right field scored Grawey, who had a massive collision at the plate with El Dorado catcher Randy Rush and Scott followed on his heels to score Fair Oaks' eighth and final run of the game. Fair Oaks outhit El Dorado 12-3 in the game.
    Post 383 continued its scoring onslaught in the second game of the twin-bill with five first inning runs. Fair Oaks starter Tim Fuhrman gave up a leadoff double to Rush to start the game, but then struck out the next two batters to end the inning. In the bottom of the first Grawey led off with a walk and moved to second on a hit by Scott to left field. Brennan and Straw also walked, with Straw's walk forcing in Grawey from third. Kenney then blasted the ball over the left field fence to clear the bases and give Fair Oaks a 5-0 lead.
    Cooke almost repeated Kenney's swing - except to right field - but the ball hit the fence about a foot from the top and just right of the 328-foot sign for a double.
    Despite a leadoff bloop hit down the left field line for El Dorado in the second, Fuhrman still got out of the inning facing only three batters as Fair Oaks' defense put together a double play to erase the runner.
    Post 383 loaded the bases for Kenney again in the bottom of the second, but this time no runs came home as the left fielder flew out. Fuhrman struck out the side in the third and added one more 'K' in the top of the fourth before Fair Oaks put three more runs on the board in the bottom of the inning.
    Brennan led off with a hit up the middle that took a bad hop over the shortstop's glove. Straw grounded back to the pitcher, who turned and threw to second, but the throw was high pulling the fielder off the bag and both runners were safe. With one out, Cooke sent a fly into center that dropped in for a hit scoring Brennan for a 6-0 lead. With Brandon Muskopf at the plate, a wild pitch scored Straw, sending Cooke to second. A second wild pitch sent Cooke to third, where he scored on Muskopf's sacrifice to right field for an 8-0 lead. Catcher Shawn Lucchesi followed with a double down the left field line, but turned it into a three-bagger as the ball got by the left fielder. Fuhrman struck out, however, to end the inning and Fair Oaks' lead remained at 8-0.
    Post 383 added its final five runs in the bottom of the fifth as Scott got a bunt hit with one out to start things off. Scott Kinsey's hit to right moved Scott to second and then Straw's grounder to short with the throw going too late to second loaded up the bases for Kenney for the third time in the game. Kenney added his fifth and sixth RBIs of the game with a hit to left as Scott and Kinsey scored, and then with two outs, a walk to Muskopf loaded the bases for B J. Green. Green sent the ball into left for a hit, scoring Straw, Kenney and Muskopf as the ball rolled past the left fielder. Green tried to take third on the play, but was tagged out after safely sliding in, but losing contact with the bag.
    Read came in to pitch the sixth inning and Moses finished up in the seventh. El Dorado scored both its runs in the seventh on a walk and two hits for the final tally of 13-2. Post 383 again had the hot bats, pounding out 14 hits against El Dorado's five.
    Sunday, Fair Oaks traveled to El Dorado High School in Placerville, taking a 5-4 victory over the El Dorado team.
    Tied 1-1 after the first inning, Fair Oaks went ahead 2-1 in the fourth and added two more runs in the sixth. El Dorado tied the game with three runs in the bottom of the seventh, but Fair Oaks scored a lone run in the top of the eighth and held on for the win.
    Cooke went 4-for-4 in the game with a double, home run and three RBI. Muskopf also doubled as Fair Oaks pounded out 10 hits in the game.
    Fair Oaks' record now stands at 6-4, moving Post 383 into a third place tie with Auburn, three and a half games out of first place in the American Legion's American Division. Post 383 has a bye on Wednesday and hosts Auburn in a doubleheader on Saturday at Bella Vista beginning at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Fair Oaks travels to Del Oro High to face Auburn in a single game at 11 a.m.
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